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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29890596">Letter from Katya</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyTehruGrey/pseuds/LadyTehruGrey'>LadyTehruGrey</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Realm of Stars [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Jaran Series - Kate Elliott</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Original country, letter format</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 17:20:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,350</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29890596</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyTehruGrey/pseuds/LadyTehruGrey</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Katya writes some notes for her aunt Tess for the upcoming visit of state from the Prince of Jeds to the independent realm of Thaylen.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Realm of Stars [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2197803</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Letter from Katya</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>There is a true dearth of Jaran Series content, and even if I can't write plot, it is my duty to contribute.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>For the office of Her Grace Therese Soerensen, Prince of Jeds, Queen Consort of the Jaran ― </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Here are some short observations and notes concerning the realm of Thaylen, in the hand of Lady Katerina Orzhekov</em>
</p><p> </p><p>The mysterious masked Guardians, to be discussed later, united all of the tribes of the main island of Thaylen as well as the surrounding archipelago. In various accounts, the Guardians took between a day to five years to convince all of the disparate peoples and their leaders to join together and 'establish the nation', as it is called. By their own calendar, it is nearly the 213th anniversary of the Establishment.</p><p>A most curious thing about the customs of this society is that there is not set code of meanings for colours that are worn, as there are in most other courts. The varied tribes had access to different dyes and cloths prior to building of the network of roads and ports all across the islands, so each had different meanings for their common and rare colours. On the northern coast, water-flower dyes indicated great wealth, while in the great south-east swamp, the tribes there would find the stained blue to appear as plain as can be. Bleached leather was only for holy days in the eastern range of mountains, but in the central desert, any colour other than white that could stay in their cloth showed as a mark of good luck. The Guardians are said to have ruled that each person may dress themself, so long as it is appropriate to their environment, in whatever styles and colours as they should care to. As this applies to yourself, I recommend that all members of your party wear an armband with the same symbol to clearly indicate themselves, so as to avoid letting accidental offence become a feud. This is standard practice for the attendants of embassies, and I think that armbands would be the most fitting for jaran and those of Jeds.</p><p>Overall, any person, regardless of origin, can be addressed as "Min", either as a prefix to their name if you do not know their title or independently to ask for an introduction. To present yourself, add "Jeds na", "jaran na", or simply "Thay-roth na" after your name to indicate your homeland. The last one is for those who are not at the moment representing their party, and still clearly states one's unfamiliarity with Thaylen customs.</p><p>Guides are Thayle who are extremly knowledgeable about the realm and are assigned to assist foreigners with translation, transport, and more. They are far from passive in negotiations, and have the authority to not translate if they so decide, and even to end meetings when they think that matters are becoming too contentious. Guides still in learning, distinguishable by their green patches on the typical blue sleeves, sometimes accompany myself and Gali as part of their training process.</p><p>There are very few taboo topics in Thaylen, but still, there are some things that noble dignitaries should not be heard to utter. I would personally recommend that you go along with the suggestion to appoint one member of your party as an Inquirer. They will have liberty to ask any awkward question, then pass on the relevant information to you. Galiena, my Guide, says that this is most often useful to foreigners who are restricted in conversation by the rules of their homeland, but I think that an Inquirer in your party would still contribute much.</p><p>All that is necessary is within walking distance in Koritha, the capital city, and there is much to explore on foot. Most Thayle use rolling contraptions called <em>velithkri</em> on the system of roads throughout cities and in the countryside, but since it takes some weeks to master that skill, there are also horses available for travel. It could still be valuable for some of your party to learn to operate the strange contraptions as I have, however.</p><p>The language, Thayli, is both easy and difficult. The grammatical structure and form of speaking is easy to follow and copy, but the vocabulary is so extremely extensive and will likely take me years to learn in its entirely. For me, the most difficult part is the conjugations, because it seems as though every possible way to indicate time has been included. The records say that the Guardians wished for all of the Thayle to be able to 'speak as one', so while the structure was made for simplicity, the words come from all over. The local tongues are many and varied, but only Thayli is needed to be able to communicate with any Thayl, who learn it as well as local languages while they are young. I am sure that Thayli will pose you no challenge, but be sure to seek permission before learning a local tongue, because in many cases, they are restricted to those who have the approval of the elders of the tribe, who keep their traditions despite centuries since Establishment.</p><p>Truly, it would be wise to choose the members of your party carefully. Families seem to be in far more loose definition than in Jeds or among the tribes of the jaran, and couples of the same gender are quite common. There are some people who have never had children, some Thayl who have children but no partner, and even some groups of adults who dwell together despite no blood relation, which would as you know be very much frowned upon where i grew up. I was quite amazed to see all of this, but perhaps Mother Sun has guided me here for a reason.</p><p>Discerning their system of power has been at once very clear and utterly baffling. At first glance, they seem to embody the principles of freedom and democracy that you have encouraged the study of at the university in Jeds: local, municipal, regional (of which there are six, as well as the leader of Koritha, which is both a region and a city), and national leaders are elected by all citizens above the age of sixteen. However, there is matter of the mysterious Guardians, about whom seem to revolved the majority of the taboo topics, and so little can added from Thayle I have met to help along the sparse records I have access to. Their powers are far-reaching: they can remove candidates, appointed officials, and elected Thayl at their discretion, in one case deposing the fifteenth national leader midway through his term. They are referred to only by title, which is a combination of a word for their affiliation and a number. As was mentioned, records are either minimal or simply not being made available to me, I have not the least clue whether the Guardians take up new titles or not, or even how long they live. The most recent record of Wing Eight, for instance, is from last year's Establishment celebration here in Koritha while guarding the national leader, but there is also a record of them being present at the Establishment itself, two hundred years ago! It is impossible to guess at who each Guardian is, for they wear robes that hide any skin and masks of differing patterns. These masks are in fact something that was adopted by the Thayle, but they only wear them for holy days, festivals, and other important occasions. At a guess, the importance that Gali has emphasized on the masks being part of each Thayl's identity, which I have hesitated to inquire about further, means that each Guardian would never wear another's mask. Assuming this is true, then there are perhaps fifty Guardians in total, because there were three named affiliations at Establishment and two more now, and then numbers in their titles are never above ten.</p><p>Quite frankly, the Guardians are a mystery that I would be very glad to leave to you.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Well, Aunt Tess, that's what I've been able to put together. The information available at continental ports was unfortunately inaccurate, so I hope that this will help you ponder your choice of party for your voyage here in a few months.</em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is basically me trying to put to paper this epic idea of an OC nation on the planet Rhui, where some humans with extra-long aging (maybe from the Reft fleet) ended up on Rhui instead and started establishing themselves. They weren't able to keep up their technology, but were able to make this country and make it as democratic and fair as possible.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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